Prabath Jayasuriya became only the 10th left-arm spinner in the world to take 10 or more five-wicket hauls in Test cricket. He achieved the feat in the second Test against South Africa at the St George’s Park in Gqeberha. Former Sri Lankan spinner Rangana Herath has the most five-wicket hauls (34) as a left-arm spinner in Test cricket.
New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori (20) and Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan (19) are second and third on the list respectively. The others are England’s Derek Underwood (17), India’s Ravindra Jadeja (15), Taijul Islam (15), India’s Bishan Singh Bedi (14), England’s Monty Panesar (12) and South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj (10).
Prabath Jayasuriya racking up records
Earlier, Jayasuriya also became the fastest Sri Lankan bowler to the milestone of 100 wickets in Test cricket. He reached the landmark in his 17th Test in the match against the Proteas at the Kingsmead in Durban. Charles Turner, Sydney Barnes, Charlie Grimmett and Yasir Shah also got there in their 17th Test.
England pacer George Alfred Lohmann set the record back in 1896 against the Proteas in Johannesburg. In the second innings of the ongoing Test, Jayasuriya finished with figures of 34-2-129-5 after taking the wickets of Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton, Temba Bavuma, David Bedingham and Marco Jansen.
On the back of his spell, Sri Lanka bowled the home team out for 317 in 86 overs and stayed in the hunt for a win. The Islanders now need 348 runs to win the second Test and draw level in the series.
In 18 Tests thus far, Jayasuriya has taken 107 wickets at an economy rate of 3.17 since his debut back in 2022. He loves bowling at the venue in Galle as he has 71 wickets from eight wickets at the venue with eight five-wicket hauls.
Source: India Today
--Agencies
